ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Tim Wakefield's knuckleball
came precariously close to producing the second no-hitter of the
season for the Boston Red Sox, who came precariously close to
blowing a five-run lead in the ninth inning.

Wakefield pitched eight hitless innings but needed help from
Derek Lowe in the ninth as the first-place Red Sox barely held
on for a 5-4 victory over the last-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

In his sixth start of the season, Wakefield did not allow a hit
until Randy Winn sliced a single to left field with none out in
the ninth. The 34-year-old righthander nearly lost the no-hit
bid one batter earlier when Jason Tyner reached safely on second
baseman Jose Offerman's throwing error.

Offerman fielded the slow roller but his toss pulled Brian
Daubach off first base.

"I really didn't want to know (if it was a hit), I just wanted
to get out of the inning as quick as I could," Wakefield said.
"When I was in my stretch, the crowd roared because they put an
`E' on the board."

Four pitches later, however, Winn removed all doubt with a sharp
single to left that scored Tyner, who had moved up on Scott
Hatteberg's passed ball. After Greg Vaughn flied out, Fred
McGriff walked and Red Sox manager Jimy Williams went to the
bullpen.

Lowe quickly retired Ben Grieve on a groundout, but Aubrey Huff
had an RBI infield hit and pinch hitter Steve Cox nearly tied it
with a liner off the top of the wall in right-center field.

"I wasn't trying to hit a home run, but you have that in the
back of your mind," Cox said. "You're just looking for a pitch
to drive. You don't want to get to his super nasty stuff. I
didn't really see it and I started to trip over my feet. I knew
I hit it good, but I didn't see it."

Two runs scored on the double, slicing Tampa Bay's deficit to
5-4, before Lowe retired pinch hitter Russ Johnson on a pop-up
to Offerman for his 11th save in 13 chances.

"I was just trying to get the first out," Wakefield said. "(The
no-hitter) was definitely in my mind. I just couldn't get it
done tonight. Fortunately, we won. That's all that matters."

Last August 29, Boston ace Pedro Martinez took a no-hitter into
the bottom of the ninth at Tampa Bay before allowing a leadoff
single to former Red Sox John Flaherty. Righthander Hideo Nomo
pitched Boston's first no-hitter in 36 years on April 4 in a 3-0
blanking of Baltimore.

Wakefield (5-1) retired 17 consecutive batters before walking
Andy Sheets with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Troy
O'Leary preserved the gem with a sliding catch in shallow left
field on Damian Rolls' sinking liner to end the inning.

"I was just thinking of giving it a shot," O'Leary said.

Wakefield was charged with three unearned runs and one hit with
four walks and eight strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 2.08.

"I'm not disappopinted at all. I'm more mentally and
emotionally drained to take a no-hitter into the ninth,"
Wakefield said. "It was an emotional roller coaster tonight. I
have had a roller-coaster career, so one night is not going to
change anything."

"He had a good curveball and the knuckleball was outstanding,"
Red Sox pitching coach Joe Kerrigan added. "He had good
movement and command. It was one of those nights he had a good
knuckleball. It was like trying to drink coffee with a spoon."

Trot Nixon hit a pair of solo homers to help Boston to its 14th
win in 19 games and seventh in as many meetings with the lowly
Devil Rays this season.

Tampa Bay starter Bryan Rekar (1-8) remained winless against
American League opponents this year, giving up four runs and six
hits in seven innings.

"I think I pitched pretty well," Rekar said. "They got a run on
a pop-up. They got a home run on a bad curveball. I just keep
plugging along."

The Devil Rays have dropped four straight following a
season-high three-game winning streak.

"We came back and put an inning together, but that gets old,"
Tampa Bay manager Hal McRae said. "To repeat the same phrase
becomes difficult. We gave them runs to put us in a position to
come back. It looks like we played a good game and an exciting
game, but we played giveaway. That's how we lose."

Wakefield and Rekar matched zeros into the fourth, when Manny
Ramirez drew a leadoff walk, moved up on a wild pitch and a
groundout and scored on Daubach's double.

Nixon homered with two out in the fifth and again with one out
in the ninth. In between, Jose Offerman lifted a sacrifice fly
and Ramirez scored on a wild pitch.

"I got a couple of pitches up in the zone," Nixon said. "Rekar
did a great job, I was just fortnunate enough to get a couple of
mistake pitches."